58 Introduction to Botany. 



8. Prunus ser6tina, Ehrh. (L., serotinus, late ripe.) Wild Black Cherry. 

 Large tree. Flowers in racemes, terminating leafy branches. Leaves thick, oval 

 to oval-lanceolate. Drupe dark purple or black, about \ inch in diameter, some- 

 what astringent, but sweetish and pleasant. In woods. 



II. SPIR^A. Meadowsweet. 

 (Gr., spei'rao^ to twist; from the spiral pods of some species ) 



Shrubs or perennial herbs, with simple, pinnatifid, or pinnate leaves 

 and white or rose-colored flowers in corymbs and panicles. Calyx 

 5-cleft, short, and campanulate. Petals 5, inserted on the calyx. 

 Stamens 10-60. Pods 5-8, not inflated, few to several-seeded. 



1. Spireea corymbosa, Raf. (Gr., korymbos, a cluster.) CoRYMEED Spir^a. 

 Shrub, I to 3 feet high. Leaves oval to orbicular, unequally and coarsely serrate 

 from some distance above the base, thick. Flowers in terminal corymbs, white, 

 about \ inch broad. Pods glabrous. Mountains and rocky places. 



2. Spirgea salicifolia, L. (L., sallx, willow; folium, leaf.) WiLLOW-LEAVED 

 or Common Meadowsweet. An erect shrub, 2 to 4 feet high. Leaves oval, 

 obovate, or oblanceolate, sharply serrate above the middle; nearly glabrous 

 throughout. Flowers in dense terminal panicles. Flowers white or tinged with 

 pink, about ^to^ inch broad. In swamps or moist grounds. 



3. Spirasa lobata, Jacq. (Gr., lobos, a lobe.) Queen of the Prairie. 

 Perennial herb, 2 to 8 feet tall. Leaves interruptedly 3-7-foliate; leaflets 3-5-lobed 

 or parted and unequally serrate or incised; terminal leaflet 7-9-parted; the lower 

 leaves sometimes 3 feet long. Stipules persistent and serrate. Flowers pink or 

 purple, fragrant, borne in a panicle on a long, naked peduncle. Pods 5-8 

 i-2-seeded. Moist ground and prairies. 



4. Spirsea Ariincus, L. (L., aruncus, beard of a goat.) Goat's Beard. 

 Smooth, tall, perennial herb with 2-3-pinnate, large leaves on long petioles ; leaflets 

 ovate to lanceolate, sharply doubly serrate. Flowers small, whitish, and dicEcious 

 in panicled, slender spikes. Pods 3-5, several-seeded, pedicels reflexed in fruit. 

 In rich woods. 



m. PHYSOCARPUS. Nine-bark. 



(Gr , physa, a bellows; karoos, fruit.) 



Branching shrubs with palmately lobed leaves, and white flowers in 

 umbel-like corymbs. Carpels 1-5. inflated; stamens 30-40. In other 

 respects like Spircsa, 



I. Physocarpus opulifolius, Maxim. (L., opulus, a kind of maple; folium, 

 leaf.) Nine-bark. Shrub, 3 to 10 feet high with recurved branches, the bark 

 peeling off in thin strips. Leaves pelioled, ovate-orbicular, 3-lobed, serrate, i to 2 

 inches long, or longer on young shoots. Corymbs terminal, peduncled, nearly 



